Advising Information

Advising Newsletters and Tip Sheets

Good advising may be the single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college experience. What better way to honor our students than to ask them about their college experiences? By taking what they say seriously, we can implement ideas that can help students succeed and prosper on our campuses.

Advising Checklist

Please remind advisees with holds to get them taken care of before registration.

Please check student’s midterm grades before advising them and review them with the student.

Verify prerequisites and corequisites for courses you and the student agree upon. Remind the student of prereqs that require a grade of “C” or better.

Secure any necessary overrides (PREREQ, CAPACITY, COREQ, etc.) from dean’s office of college that offers the course. Use the Override Approval Form, or send an email directly to associate dean’s office with the information and request.

Please review (in Academic History) whether or not the student is on Academic Probation this semester. Please spend a little extra time probing how the student is doing and whether or not they need to change how they are approaching any of their courses, of if they need additional support.

Please run a Degree Evaluation (SSB – Faculty and Advising….Student Information Menu…ID Selection…Degree Evaluation.) Let the Associate Dean know if there are any issues that need correcting here.

For Seniors — Please run the Degree Evaluation and complete a graduation plan with the student. Please encourage the student to complete an Application for Graduation as well.

Advising International Students

International Student Office (ISO)

Credit Hours

Undergraduate and post-degree students must be registered for 12 credit hours or more.

Graduate students must be registered for 9 credit hours (or take courses that will result in a full load.)

Students do not need to be full-time in their final semester. Note: if student only registered for one course, it may not be online.

International students may register part-time or take vacation in the Summer term, if the Summer term is generally an off-term for other students in the program.

Online Courses

International students may only take one online course per semester towards full-time enrollment.

With advisor approval, students may take more than one online course, as long as the student would be considered full-time without including the additional online courses. (For example, a graduate student could take 6 credits in class and 6 credits online; an undergrad/post-degree student could take 9 credits in class and 6 credits online.)

Dropping Courses

International students should consult with the International Student Office before dropping any courses.(In general, an international student is allowed one drop for academic difficulty.)

Co-op

Graduate and Undergraduate/Post-Degree students must have maintained status for at least two semesters to be eligible for co-op.

Students with F-1 visas can work up to three full-time co-ops, or six part-time co-ops.

International students wishing to do co-op must get approval from the ISO office.

New freshmen and transfers

Placement tests

New freshmen will take placement tests during Summer Orientation and Registration days (SOAR).

Transfer students are strongly encouraged to take placement tests. Placement tests are given at the Learning Center (3rd floor of the library). Call UAS at 313-993-1143.

Placement tests are given for English, math, chemistry (for E & S students and other students intending to take chemistry) and foreign language (optional). Click here for more information.

For the math placement test, students with a high enough ACT/SAT score may take a course one higher than their placement.
Click here for the Math Placement Test Guide.

Modular Math option — students may take three one credit modules, rather than one 3 credit course. This has been a very successful option for students. Click here for the Modular Math Advising Guide.

For English, chemistry and foreign language placements, the student may only register for the course they are placed into.

Students who feel their placement does not appropriately reflect their experience may have one retake of each of the placement tests (by Aug. 15 for new freshmen). There is a fee for the math placement test, but not for the others.

AP/IB Test Credits

The Transfer Team will post AP/IB test scores and corresponding course credits on the student's academic history once they are received by the university. Placement tests are given for English, math, chemistry (for E & S students and other students intending to take chemistry), and foreign language (optional). See the advanced placement guide or the IB credit guide for more information.

Transfer Credits

Transfer credits will be processed by the Transfer Team once they are received. Run a Degree Evaluation to see how transferred courses will fit into the students declared major or "what if" for other scenarios.

Students must complete their last 30 credit hours (roughly their senior year) at Detroit Mercy. This is referred to as the Senior Residency Rule.

After being admitted to Detroit Mercy, students wishing to take classes at another institution must get permission from their advisor and Dean's office before taking classes at another institution. If permission is granted, students should complete the Michigan Guest Student Application, have it signed by their dean's office and then have it stamped/sealed by the registrar's office. If the student is taking classes at one of the Detroit Area Catholic Higher Education Consortium Schools (Madonna University, Marygrove College, and Sacred Heart Major Seminary), there is a separate authorization form for those schools.

Consortium Agreements

Undergraduate Advisors

You may advise undergraduate students who are eligible for taking a class(es) at Madonna University, Marygrove College or Sacred Heart Seminary while they are pursuing their Detroit Mercy degree. Sometimes having a specific course or the schedule flexibility available by taking a class through the consortium can help students as they work towards completion of their Detroit Mercy degree. Listed below is the detailed information from the undergraduate catalog about taking a consortium class. Consortium classes don't work in every program or for every student but they are an option to consider for some students.

Consortium

The University participates in a program where students and programs are exchanged with the other members of the Detroit Area Catholic Higher Education Consortium, which includes Madonna University, Marygrove College and Sacred Heart Seminary. Under the program, full-time and part-time undergraduate students in good standing and enrolled in any member institution may take undergraduate courses at other consortium schools and pay tuition as part of their home institution tuition charges. Any course fees are paid to the host institution.

Eligibility

To be eligible, a full-time student must be enrolled at the home school and enroll for a combined total of 12 or more credit hours at both schools and must pay at least the minimum full-time tuition of the home institution. A part-time student must register for a minimum of six credit hours, at least three of which must be at the home institution.

Registration Procedure

Approval for enrolling in courses at another consortium institution must be obtained from the college office. The authorization form is prepared by the student and signed by the college office. The academic dean has the authority to limit the total number of courses a student may take at other consortium institutions, both overall and during a specific term or semester. Summer courses are available.

Limitations

A maximum of 12 credit hours of courses from other consortium institutions may be taken during a student’s entire undergraduate program.

Normally, authorization will not be given to take a course at another consortium institution if an identical or clearly comparable course will be concurrently offered at Detroit Mercy.

Graduate level courses are not included in this program. Post-degree students may participate provided that they enroll for undergraduate courses.

No consortium credits are allowed during the last 30 hours of any student’s program (except for declared Theatre and Architecture majors).